Door sections



C. E. SCHLYTERN DOOR SECTIONS Sept. 10, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 25, 1954 INVENTOR. 0/2 arles E. S'ch/yfer'fl BY His Hfforney P 10, 1957 c. E. SCHLYTERN 2,805,450

DOOR SECTIONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25, 1954 INVENTOR. Char/e5 E. Schlyfer'n His Hffor ney DGUR SEQTIQNS Charles E. Schlytern, Bulfalo, N. Y.

Application li/Iareil 25, 1954, Serial No. 418,611

3 Claims. (Cl. 226-35) The invention relates to door construction and more particularly to an improved door section for fabrication and assembly into upward acting sectional doors.

Upwardacting sectional doors have been in use for many years and usually comprise a plurality of adjacently joined sections. Such sectional doors are generally op erated in combination with a door operating and balancing system such that the door sections are turned horizon tally, as they are lifted to a level above the doorway but in cases where there is adequate overhead space, the sectional door may be lifted straight up.

A disadvantage experienced with such doors has been that the sections are of considerable weight thereby creat ing a large amount of inertia which is a disadvantage. Such doors provide poor thermal insulation when the panels are made of steel or metal sheets and, when made of either sheet metal or wood, are opaque to light neces sitating'the installation of windows either in the door panels or in the walls of the building.

Also such doors have lacked the property of resisting corrosion when installed in industrial or other locations where the atmosphere is contaminated with corroding gases or salts. Also the usual rotting and warping of wooden doors is a considerable disadvantage involving the expense of applying paint and insecticides. And the col. 4 monly available doors of this type have been difficult to harmonize with the general architectural scheme, and to maintain in harmony with the surrounding.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide sections for sectional upward acting doors which will have ample strength, rigidity and permanence in a structure of a lighter weight than has previ usly been available for doors of this kind.

It is also an object of the invention to make or provide door sections which have improved thermal insulating properties and which will be fire retardant to aid in checking or limiting the progress of a fire in or near a building equipped with such a door.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a door section in which the door panel is made of a material which rnay be selected from a wide range nent colors for pleasing architectural harmony.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a sectional door section having a panel made of a material which may be opaque, semi-transparent, translucent or transparent so that light may be admitted therethrough and the usual adjacent windows may be omitted, or light may be excluded, if desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door section made of corrosion resistant materials so that a sectional door made thereof will be permanent and dur able in locations where the atmosphere carries corrosive gases, salts and particles.

Also it is an object of the invention to provide door sections which are practically indestructible and require a minimum of maintenance.

The invention, and additional objects and advantages thereof will be more readily understood by reading the I 0 Or pe following specification in conjunction with the appended drawing in which similar reference characters have been applied to corresponding parts throughout, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view, partially broken away;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on line 33 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 4- is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing different securing means for attaching one edge of the non-metallic door panel into one of the edge protecting legs of the door section;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view showing the blank of the section coupler and roller guide support plate;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view showing one edge of the section coupler and guide wheel support, a rail guide wheel and shaft being represented by'dotted lines;

Fig. 7 an elevational view, partially broken away, showing the floor engaging portion of the bottom section of a door; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view thereof on line 8-S on Fig. 7.

Referring more specifically to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, I have illustratively disclosed an embodiment of my improved door section which comprises a non metallic door panel 11 the opposite edges of which are SCl.ll'6d into the open sides of channel cross-sectioned metal legs 13 for imparting additional strength and rigidity to the door section and for enclosing and protecting the edges of the panelwhich when installed must travel up and down adjacent the sides of a doorway or door. casing.

1 The channel pieces or legs 13 are made of aluminum, mag

nesium, or other light weight corrosion resistant metal or alloy, and are provided with stepped ends l t whichfacili tate coupling the edges of two sections together with. a good weather seal, as will be subsequently described, and

permits a leg to turn relative to an adjacent leg.

The panel 11 of the door section is madeof a plastic sheet material having good thermal insulating and fire retarding properties, as well as also being non-corrodible when exposed to contaminated atmosphere. For this purpose fiber glass panel material has proven to be especially satisfactory as it may alsorbe translucent, semi-trans parent, or transparent for passing light through the door panel. The fiber glass sheet material is a sheet of resin or plastic material reinforced by glass fibers and it may be obtained in various colors and tints which are permanent and which may be selected to harmonize with various architectural ornamental schemes. Also this fiber glass sheet combines great strength and durability with light weight, and to augment these properties this panel sheet is deformed to have reversely bent folds extending in parallel relation across the panel and of an amplitude suitable to fit snugly into the open sides of the channel crosssections of the legs 1.5. V

In addition to protecting the edges of the non metallic material and providing strength and stilfness to the door section, the channel piece legs 13. also serve to provide convenient joining means for securing a plurality of such sections together pivotally or otherwise by adapting the ends of these legs for end-to-end connection. This may be readily accomplished by providing holes 15 near the ends of the legs and through the yokes or intermediate.

webs thereof for receiving the ends of pins 17 projecting from the roller guide and section coupler plates 18, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. One of the guide and coupler plates 18 is shown more clearly alone in enlarged views in Figs. 5 and 6, and subsequently described in detail.

The plates 18 may be secured to the innermost flanges of the channel shaped legs 13, near one end of each, by screws or rivets 20. Each such plate 18 has a spaced pair of lugs 21 projecting inwardly to carry -a guide wheel 22 on the outer end of a shaft 23 for engaging a guide rail 22 Patented Sept. 10, 1951 shown'in dottedlines in Figs; 3 and 4, in a well known manner. Such door sections can'be conveniently assembled coupled together to fabricate a sectional upward acting door, for installation adjacent suitable guide rails.

to close a doorway in any'well'known'manner. j The upper and lower edges of "the panel sheet 11. are curled so that by hooking'these edges together with ,the

curled edge of an adjac'ent'panel sheet, as a'multhse'ction door is fabricated, a weather tight joint is formed, asrepresented in Fig. 2,'the*lower"panel beingshlown in. dotted lines.

The panel of fiber glass. sheet material maybe firmly attached in the legs 13 by applying a' suitable cement or adhesive material 24thereon before the edges are pressed snugly into the open cross-sections of the side pieces or.

legs, and especially between theflat portions of the panel and the outermost flange of thechannel-likelegs 13. The section is then exposed to'heat to curethe'material and bond'the adjacentsurfaces together in'a bondedjoint, as represented in Figs. 2 and 3.

Or, if desired, the edges of the flat portions of the nonmetallic panel 11 may be secured firmly to the adjacent side flange, being the outermost flange, as shown, of the channel cross-section of the legs 13, by bolts, screws, rivets or other fastening members 25 passed therethrough,

, as shown in Fig. 4.

The section which is to be used as the bottom section of a door is constructed the same as the other sections except that it is adapted for engaging the floor 'by addition of the elements, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, where it,

durable and yielding. One edge of this strip 27 is then,

secured along one edge of the bottom of the cross-piece, as by rivets or other fastening members 29. The strip 27 is then turned back'under in a reversely folded relation and disposed up along the inner side of the cross-piece 22 where it is secured, as by rivets. This forms a yieldable downwardly bulging astragal to softly engage the floor and provide a well sealed weather proof joint thereon.

The section coupler and roller guide wheel support plate 18 is a simple structure which may be conveniently made in mass production by stamping from a suitably heavy sheet metal a blank 31, shown in Fig. 5.

As shown in Fig. 5, the blank 31 is struck out to provide a mounting base 33 having two lugs 21 projecting in opposite directions from ,opposite'edges thereof; Also a coupling lug 35 projects from one edge of this base blank. The two lugs 21 are provided with hearing apertures 37. And the coupling 1ug735 is provided with an aperture 39 therein for supporting the pin 17. which serves for connecting one door section to another.

Deforming the two lugs 21 of Fig. upward toward the leader, brings these into an upstanding parallel relation and provides a'support for a shaft 23 to carry a guide wheel 22, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4 and other views. The base is provided two apertures 41 to receive fastening means 20 so that it can be mounted'on the flange of the section leg 13 which is toward the inside of a garage orother building, to support the guide wheel 22 in a proper position to'engage the usual guide rail 23'.

Bending the coupler lug 35 downwardly, as'viewed'in Fig. 5, positions it to project from the bottom of, the section" whereupon the base 18 is mounted and to extend 4. along one edge of the next lower section represented in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. The coupling lug 35 then attaches to the next lower door section as by a pin 17 in its aperture 39 and extending into a hole 15 in the upper end of the side leg of the next lower section.

Fig. 6 shows such a completed roller guide and coupler support plate. And its installation may be seen in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4. On either side this structure is similar except that the coupler lug 35 must be disposed one way or the other to extend down along either the right hand side or the left hand side of the door, as it is mounted on either side.

It will be seen that I have provided an improved door section for sectional doors which in a light weight structure provides, thermal insulation, fire resistance, corrosion resistance, light transmission to eliminate adjacent windows, and all in a structure which is readily fabricated to provide for architectural design harmony.

It is apparent that within the scope of the invention modifications and different arrangements may be made other than herein disclosed, and the present disclosure is illustrative merely, the invention comprehendingvariations thereof.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A section for a multi-section door comprising, a panel of thermal insulating fire-resistant sheet plastic material, a pair of edge protecting metal legs disposed along opposite edges of said panel, each of said legs having a substantially channel-shaped cross-section and being positioned with the open part of, the cross-section disposed inwardly to receive the adjacent edges of the panel therein, said panel being deformed to provide reversely bent folds extending in a parallel relation across the panel between said edges and of an amplitude to fit snugly into said legs in firm pressing relation between the opposite webs of the channel-like cross-sections thereof, for snug engagement therewith, said folds being spaced apart defining therebev tween a series of flat panel portions of appreciable height. extending across the panel width cooperatively engaging.

substantial and material interior surface portions of one of said opposed channel webs, and means securing the outer surfaces of said flat panel portions throughout their height to corresponding engaging inner surface portions of said web.

2. A pair of panel sections each as set forth in claim 1, pivotally connected in end' to end relation, the adjacent edges between panels being arcuately curved throughout their width and overlapped and'in interlocking contact for effecting a seal between said panels, said surface contact being maintained between said panels on relative angular adjustment thereof. H

3. In the section of claim 1, a bottom cross piece of channel shaped cross-section along the bottom of the door section of a length and width to be disposed between said legs with its ends respectively secured within their respective opposed webs, and with the open side of the cross .piece positioned upwardly to receive and protect the bottom edge of said panel sheet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Modern Plastics, Apr. 1951 (pg. 87 Publication. 

